EGM is coming back--Founder STEVE HARRIS to the rescue

[gigadrive32]

http://bitmob.com/index.php/mobfeed/EGM-is-Back.html

http://www.egmnow.com/

“ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY” FOUNDER
EXECUTES CONTRACT TO ACQUIRE PRINT AND ONLINE
PUBLISHING RIGHTS TO EGM MAGAZINE

BEVERLY HILLS, CA, May 29, 2009 — Steve Harris, founder of “Electronic Gaming Monthly” magazine, announced today that he has entered into an agreement with Ziff Davis Media to re-acquire certain assets, including trademarks and publishing rights, with plans to re-launch EGM in the second half of 2009.

“The re-launch of Electronic Gaming Monthly represents a welcome opportunity to continue delivering quality content to gaming enthusiasts,” said Harris. “I feel honored to once again be associated with this respected magazine. The talented writers and designers who built upon EGM’s original vision have left behind a publication that is uniquely positioned to be successful.”

“Electronic Gaming Monthly is and always has been one of the most respected publications among the gaming enthusiast community,” said Jason Young, CEO, Ziff Davis Media Inc. “We are pleased that EGM is now in the hands of its original creator, Steve Harris, and wish him and the publication the best of success in the future.”

“We have exciting plans for the evolution of what will once again be a leading independent voice for the gaming community,” Harris continued. “The twenty year success of the EGM brand has always been built upon a commitment to its readers who I believe will enthusiastically embrace the changes we are planning to introduce.”

Additional details and future announcements will be made during the upcoming E3 expo and posted on the magazine’s official website at http://www.EGMNOW.com or via the official EGM Twitter account at http://www.twitter.com/EGMNOW .

ABOUT ELECTRONIC GAMING MONTHLY:

Electronic Gaming Monthly (aka EGM) was launched in 1988 by Steve Harris to provide independent news, reviews, and other content of interest to video game enthusiasts. The magazine enjoyed rapid success that continued after Harris sold the publication to Ziff Davis in 1996. It has remained an industry leader for more than twenty years and has enjoyed a strong and loyal readership base during that time.

Steve Harris (long ago)



JOY

[PC Engine Fan X!]

If Steve Harris could bring back the magic that the old EGM had back in the early 1990s, that would be cool. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Stormwatch]

I didn't like Iron Maiden's recent albums... oh wait, wrong Steve Harris.

[professor ganson]

Terrific news. Without having looked into the matter, I'm worried that the most recent staff members won't be involved. If this magazine just arises ex nihilo, it may take a while before you have anything very polished.

[Jockel]

as long as there's no Stuart Campbell...

[brokenhalo]

i can't wait to subscribe again. i miss getting a new egm in the mail every month.

[SuperGrafx]

If Steve Harris will personally run this new EGM entity, and if he can convince some of the original writers to rejoin (ie: Ed Semrad, Donn Nauert, etc), then I'm definitely sold.

I hated EGM in its later form thanks to all those Gamestop-hipster wannabe's that somehow took over.
I was there from the beginning when EGM published its first issue, and I liked watching it grow from an almost amateur state to something bigger and better over the years. Things began to take a turn for the worse around 1995.

My fingers are crossed.

[Ganelon]

Great news; now they just need some exclusives in there to remain competitive. Maybe even offer ad discounts for exclusive news and images.

You know what I think what be a good idea? A DVD containing scans of all the EGM, EGM2, and Buyer Guide magazines. CBZ would be the preferred format but it'll probably be PDF and that's acceptable too.

Yes, I know these are "available" elsewhere but having a cheap-to-print DVD and case should provide some quick cash as a "zeroth issue." Plus, they can put the last issue on there for a double whammy.

The only problem is that the contents of past issues isn't specifically mentioned as part of the agreement in the press release.

[Cthulhu]

This is a pretty brave move in these increasingly magazine-unfriendly times, but hey, I'll subscribe. Here's hoping it's good. If it's not, I can stop after a year and only be out $20 or $30.

[No_not_like_Quake]

Great news? EGM was a rag. Even 1990-1995, when I read it most, it was full of bullshit.

I suppose it was better than Gamepro, Game Players and VG & CE (the other big North American mags of the day) though.

[Specineff]

^^^ I always felt they very biased towards the SNES and used it as the standard to judge all games by:

Fun game on the Game Gear? Average because it has SMS sound and music.

Random game on the Sega CD? It sucks because its on the Sega CD, period.

Game came out on the Turbo Duo? It sucks because it's not a SNES.

And so on.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

Just blow up the Internets and people will go back to magazines.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Great news? EGM was a rag. Even 1990-1995, when I read it most, it was full of bullshit.

I suppose it was better than Gamepro, Game Players and VG & CE (the other big North American mags of the day) though.

Video Games & Computer Enterainment along with Next Generation really set the bar for high quality written video game magazines for the USA. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[No_not_like_Quake]

^^^ I always felt they very biased towards the SNES and used it as the standard to judge all games by:

Fun game on the Game Gear? Average because it has SMS sound and music.

Random game on the Sega CD? It sucks because its on the Sega CD, period.

Game came out on the Turbo Duo? It sucks because it's not a SNES.

And so on.

I noticed that. Also, good game on Neo Geo? No it sucks because there is slow down and sprite flicker and it's expensive (Last Resort).

PC Engine Fan X! - VG & CE had some great articles. Felt some of the reviewers were dumb though.

My first ever game mag was the August 1990 issue of VG & CE, with Michael Jackson on the cover promoting Moonwalker. Read it so much the cover fell off quickly.

[gameoverDude]

At least with Steve Harris in charge, this EGM should not be run like the later era (e.g. too thin on content, often as few as 70 pages).

Some of the original staff have already been taken by the game industry or other sites (e.g. Donn Nauert, Steve Ryno).

EGM's Last Resort review was too harsh. The slowdown and flicker are not that bad. Its five levels aren't too short overall- and there's a loop. Absolute price should not figure into the review either- especially with this being Neo-Geo where games usually cost $200, priced out of the majority's league. I think they would've rated the Neo-CD version slightly higher based on price alone ($50).

[doctorx0079]

Great news? EGM was a rag. Even 1990-1995, when I read it most, it was full of bullshit.

I suppose it was better than Gamepro, Game Players and VG & CE (the other big North American mags of the day) though.

Video Games & Computer Enterainment along with Next Generation really set the bar for high quality written video game magazines for the USA. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

I used to always read Next Gen, it was AWESOME.

[Stormwatch]

I liked Gamefan. You could feel the reviewers had some passion, and were very vocal against localization bastardization.

[agustusx]

Great news? EGM was a rag. Even 1990-1995, when I read it most, it was full of bullshit.

I suppose it was better than Gamepro, Game Players and VG & CE (the other big North American mags of the day) though.

Video Games & Computer Enterainment along with Next Generation really set the bar for high quality written video game magazines for the USA. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

I used to always read Next Gen, it was AWESOME.

I still weep over next gen, when I stopped collecting EGM I didn't miss it. good to hear its going to give it another go.

But seriously, how can a media format so dependent on ad revenue be independent.

[brokenhalo]

they're taking subscriptions for the new EGM. you can find more info here. i read a little while back they are looking to relaunch with the april issue. it'll be nice to get my favorite gaming mag in the mail again.

[Skykid]

As long as it's better than it was in the last few years (i.e. total shit) then I'm all for any new games publication, especially print based.

[Acid King]

Just blow up the Internets and people will go back to magazines.

They just need to focus on something other than news and go for stuff the internet publications aren't that great at, namely feature articles and interviews.

[Specineff]

I will buy the mag, but not subscribe. If the mag bombs again, I'd be stuck with 11 issues of Maxim. Kind of a catch-22, but I'd rather not risk it.

[Kiken]

^^^ I always felt they very biased towards the SNES and used it as the standard to judge all games by:

Fun game on the Game Gear? Average because it has SMS sound and music.

Random game on the Sega CD? It sucks because its on the Sega CD, period.

Game came out on the Turbo Duo? It sucks because it's not a SNES.

And so on.

Yet despite that, for three years straight they gave Game Of The Year to MD/Genesis games: Daimakaimura/Ghouls & Ghosts in 1989, Strider Hiryuu in 1990, and Sonic The Hedgehog in 1991. And then 2 years later, handed it to a Neo Geo game: Samurai Spirits/Samurai Shodown in 1993.

[Jon]

I could have sworn Lords Of Thunder landed the game of the year title as well.

[Kiel]

The November '92 issue of EGM is the reason that I own all the video game stuff I have.

If it can be like it was in 92 and 93 I might get it.

[Ed Oscuro]

Just blow up the Internets and people will go back to magazines.

They just need to focus on something other than news and go for stuff the internet publications aren't that great at, namely feature articles and interviews.

Note to anybody listening: Run-downs of all the games in a series are boring in print and rather useless.

[BryanM]

Man Next Generation was good. Too good to last.

But seriously, how can a media format so dependent on ad revenue be independent.

Argh; the poster child of this was PC Gamer with Hellgate. They had this promo for the game where you could get some dumb monkey mascot in-game, and in the same issue the review gave the game.... an 89.

So even with all the money they were getting poured into them from EA, they weren't able to give that crapsack that ONE LITTLE POINT that would have put it in the "pretty good choice awards gold star" category.

Blah, by default tho you can chop off the first half of the scale and apply the meaningful in the real-world five star system:

90+: Great.
80+: Good.
70+: Average.
60+: Not total crap.
50+: Total crap.

[Ed Oscuro]

I actually can't think of any obvious modern examples of corruption influencing reviews (none proven anyway). Bad games usually get bad scores, though did Hellgate really deserve even an 89?

Where the mags and review sites are usually caught is with previews...they want to be objective so they talk about what the game is trying to do, but after the embargo is done and all the kiddies have bought the game, out comes the review with "I always knew this game was no good from the moment I saw it." ARGH

[Acid King]

Where the mags and review sites are usually caught is with previews...they want to be objective so they talk about what the game is trying to do, but after the embargo is done and all the kiddies have bought the game, out comes the review with "I always knew this game was no good from the moment I saw it." ARGH

That's the worst part of games journalism. Uncritical overly optimistic previews don't help consumers make good choices and it doesn't help developers make good games.

[BryanM]

I actually can't think of any obvious modern examples of corruption influencing reviews (none proven anyway). Bad games usually get bad scores, though did Hellgate really deserve even an 89?

Hellgate compares to Diablo like how having Syphilis compares to looking at Diora Baird.

It was so god awful a game, it ruined the company that developed it, had a angry-fan site Flagshipped.com, and uh. Specific high-level examples:

* You know how in an RPG the bestiary changes as you progress? Like you go from killing a Lettuce Rabbit to Mollusks to Metal Slimes to Space Whales to Pigs with Green Mohawks? Hellgate doesn't do that. The Grey Zombie you fight in the first zone is identical to the Grey Zombie you fight in the last zones. There are a very few palette swaps of a few monsters, but they only appear in hunt and kill quests.

In a Let's Play I did that covered the first third of the game, the zones with Grey Zombies to No-Grey Zombies was 52.6% - which is something I expected to rise as I approached the end game. Then Hellgate may or may not have killed my computer.

* The game is essentially about 3 hours of stuff they tried to stretch over a framework of around 40 hours. They spent so much damn money on expensive art and sushi, there is an anemic level of content in the thing.

* Honestly a lot of us suspect they rushed the release even more than they would have since they knew the Diablo 3 announcement would kill their sales. Not that it could have saved them from retarded decisions, like having a GAMES REVIEW JOURNALIST guy be the writer.

* More ranting of most, but not all, of its flaws can be found in any of the Let's Plays of the thing.

So it was a 2 star game, so it was obvious shilling. Most other big name review outlets gave it the lowest score imaginable for an EA published title: a 70!

And just like a grey zombie, Hanbitsoft will bring it back to us. Yaaaaay.

OH. Remember that guy who got fired from Gamespot for his honest of that uh Kane and something or other game? When the website was decked out whoring the game in it's very layout? Good times.